As Arias Earmarked

" As Arias Earmarked "

by Suzán Jiván

Performed on YouTube
as, " On a Vibraphone
on Saturday Night "

On a vibraphone
on Saturday Night
played on the same spot
as collaborative art
for concerts
of the not-so-hard
as arias earmarked
as melancholic
when composed
as stand-alone
fading drones
changing in exposure
in overtures
played over
the long-haul
as encores
of masterful joy
Usually green beneath
when freed from the mud
by using your feet
in extreme need
low and creeping
with an acrid biting quality
turning pink in spring
Unlike anything
which is to say
as stubby as a spadix
tapering
to a tight cluster
like an unpalatable
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
do not eat raw
or boiled on long
leaf stalks
with thick joints
as opposed
to a cautionary
dogbane
or common
nightshade
Or perhaps
as Bastard
Toadflax
attached singly
pale underneath
crowned by sepals
small, green and sweet
hairless and quickly branching
along sandy shores
toothless, or nearly so
with showy lobes
and deep groans
from lame jokes
becoming pigeon-holed
as a Texas Toad
burying itself
when threatened
as a consequence
of specimen collecting
with a sharp edge
on a cranial crest
creating a depression
returning to the terrestrial
with a poorly-defined
black stripe...